


Good Company

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, quiet moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 14:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19200973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Favorite places can be greatly improved by company you enjoy.





	Good Company

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill from tumblr: Shimmer

 

It was a good thing, with as often as she liked to wander off, that Jasiri almost always wound up in just a handful of places. Today it was the flat rock that jutted over the river behind Willowmere. Tristian wasn’t really surprised; of all the places she liked to go, he was pretty sure this one was her favorite. It made sense as her choice after a long–but undoubtedly productive–morning of meetings.

“Enjoying the fresh air?” he asked as he drew close.

Jasiri started slightly, then looked up and gave him one of her sun-bright smiles.  “Absolutely. And the peace and quiet.”

“Well, in that case, I won’t disturb you further,” Tristian said, wondering if she could see his faint, teasing smile in the shadows of his hood.

Apparently not. “Wait, _wait_ , Tristian. _**Tristian!**_ ” There was a splash and a shimmering line of water droplets arced through the air as she scrambled to her feet to grab his arm. “You’re _good_ at quiet. You can stay.” His bemused expression registered and she rolled her eyes as she tugged him toward the edge of the rock. “Don’t tease like that, you know I enjoy your company.”

Tristian bit his lip to hide a laugh at the irony of being scolded for teasing by _Jasiri Swallowtail_ of all people. “Sometimes we need time alone, regardless of how good out company might be at being quiet.”

“Pssh,” Jasiri scoffed, plunking down on the rock and dangling her feet in the water again. “I’m always gonna enjoy your company.”

His heart squeezed at how casually she said it, but still he smiled. “And I yours.”

She patted the rock next to her. “C’mon, sit. You don’t have to put your feet in the water if you don’t wanna, but it does feel really nice.”

Tristian sat, only deliberating a moment before pulling off his boots and socks to dip his feet in the water next to hers. She was was right; it did feel nice. “So how did your morning go?”

Jasiri made a face and kicked one foot, watching the ripples break up the sun’s shimmering reflection. “’Bout as well as meetings can. Baronessing isn’t as hard as I worried it might be, but meetings are decidedly not fun. Even when they’re with Octavia or you. Those are a little better,” she acknowledged with a mischievous wink, “but meetings are still meetings. And _some people_ possess the uncanny ability to make them seem twice as long as they actually are.”

He chuckled, knowing exactly who she was referencing. “Treasury report today?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “He’s a great friend and bloody good at his job, but Dreamer save me, I swear sometimes Jube just talks so much ‘cause he likes the sound of his own voice.”

Tristian bit back another smile. “Does he know you call him that?”

Jasiri looked up with innocent eyes, impish mischief lurking just below the surface. “I never do it to his face.”

“That’s a no, then.” This time he couldn’t fight the smile. She looked so _alive_ , so bright and happy it was infectious. Before he could stop himself, he reached over and tucked back a tendril of hair that had escaped her braid.

She froze, impish mirth turning to a different kind of smile entirely. Shyness was jarring on her, a sharp change form her usually-bold demeanor. She ran her fingers over the hair he’d tucked back, trailing all the way down to the end of the braid hanging over her shoulder. She curled the small tail around her thumb, focusing on the tic far more than it called for as Tristian knotted his hands together in his lap.

He shouldn’t have done that, he should’ve resisted the temptation…. He was suddenly very aware of the cool water around his ankles, the bird singing and muffled cacophony of the capital behind them as his brain scrambled for something to focus on aside from Jasiri.

Just before he gave into the urge to run away, she looked up at him and asked, “Do you know how to skip stones?”

“Hm?” Tristian’s brow furrowed at the abruptness of the shift.

“Do you know how to skip stones?” Jasiri repeated, reaching down to pick up one of the stones that lined the riverbank.

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

She grinned and offered him the flat black stone. “Wanna learn? I’m really good at it.”

It was a bridge back from their awkward moment as much as it was a genuine offer, and he smiled as he accepted both. “I would like that very much.”

Jasiri’s grin somehow went even brighter as she bent to claim a stone for herself, and Tristian’s heart ached a little at knowing _he_ could do that to her, because it meant he could also do just the opposite. But he could wrestle with that later. Right now, he was just going to enjoy spending time with her.

And if she rested her hand on his to correct his skipping technique more than strictly necessary, well, neither drew attention to it.


End file.
